Election 2023: Food Crisis toolbox

CPAG has three key election asks in 2023: free preschool education for every child; a warm, safe dry house for every child and good food for every child.

One in six children live in households where food runs out sometimes or often due to lack of money.   

Food insecurity is not experienced evenly in New Zealand. No child should go hungry, and the disparity between children signals a serious concern.  

More than one-third of Pacific children and one in four tamariki Māori live in households that sometimes or often ran out of food.  

As the cost of living goes up, food parcel distributors are reporting record numbers of people using the services.

People who might have had a financial buffer before no longer do. Something like a big power bill, a school trip, or needing a new tyre means they don’t have enough food on any particular week.

In this toolbox you will find information to back up our third election ask. We hope it is useful for NGOs, political parties, journalists and policy makers because we can improve children’s health by improving the flow of affordable, healthy food options and opportunities to run and play.

FROM CPAG’s EMERITUS PROFESSOR ELAINE RUSH:

• October 2023 presentation on the Food Crisis

• 2023 CPAG Policy Brief on Food Security (June 2023 by Elaine Rush, Rebekah Graham and Dana Wensley)

• Bringing NZ's hidden hunger problem into the open (By Elaine Rush and Zac Morse)

• Child Poverty Needs Attention Right Now (By Elaine Rush and Dana Wensley)

• Pacific Islands Families Study: Household Food Security during Pregnancy and Secondary School Educational Achievement (By Elaine Rush, Leon Iusitini, El-Shadan Tautly and Lindsay D. Plank)

MORE ON NEW ZEALAND’S FOOD CRISIS

• Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective and their resource: The Place of Food in the 2023 General Election

• Indicators of food insecurity and access to food assistance in the Growing Up in New Zealand cohort

• University of Otago Food Cost Survey

• New Zealand Food Network - keeps track of food bank numbers

• Book Re:Food by Emily King and her website

• GST food debate a distraction from the real issue by Naomii Seah

• Food banks seeing wider variety of people who can’t make ends meet (Newshub)

• Food banks feeding 165% more people than before the pandemic began, new survey reveals (The Listener)

• Are the rights of children experiencing poverty in Aotearoa New Zealand being observed? (CPAG, by Dana Wensley)

• Health, wellbeing and nutritional impacts after 2 years of free school meals in New Zealand (Oxford Academic Press)

• Save the Children calls for further funding for lunches in schools

• October 2023 presentation on the Food Crisis by Auckland City Mission’s Micaela van der Schaaf

WANT TO TAKE ACTION? HERE’S HOW YOU CAN:

If you want to tell those in charge that you’re unhappy with the food systems in Aotearoa you can write to the Minister for Child Poverty Reduction, Hon Jan Tinetti (Labour), the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Development Hon Carmel Sepuloni (Labour). or Labour’s agriculture spokesperson Damien O’Connor.

You could also write to National Child Poverty Reduction spokesperson Louise Upston, or National’s Social Investment Spokesperson Nicola Willis or National’s Spokesperson for agriculture Todd McClay.

Karen Chhour is the ACT party spokeperson for child poverty and Ricardo Menéndez March is the Greens spokesperson for social development.

You could also write to your local MP or candidate and tell them your concerns. A full list of contact details for Members of Parliament can be accessed here.

GET ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

#goodfoodforallchildren

Here’s a post we’ve created for you: CLICK HERE. Or make your own. We can’t wait to see what you come up with. Don’t forget to tag us in your posts.